Taglines: More explosive than 4th of July fireworks!
The Seven Year Itch movie storyline. In summertime in Manhattan, the plain and average Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) sends his wife and son for vacation in the country. Sherman is the key man of a publishing firm, Brady & Company, which publishes cheap pocket books. The faithful Sherman has a routine life with his family and dreams on being successful with women.
When a beautiful and sexy blonde lodges the upstairs apartment of his small building, Sherman first opens the front door for her and then he invites her to have a drink with him after the fall of her tomato vase on his chair. Along the days, he spends some time with the girl and feels tempted by her, but later he misses his family and travels to meet them.
The Seven Year Itch is a 1955 American romantic comedy film based on a 1952 three-act play with the same name by George Axelrod. The film was co-written and directed by Billy Wilder, and stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, reprising his Broadway role from the play. It contains one of the most notable images of the 20th century – Monroe standing on a subway grate as her white dress is blown upwards by a passing train. The titular phrase, which refers to declining interest in a monogamous relationship after seven years of marriage, has been used by psychologists.
About the Production
The Seven Year Itch was filmed between September and November 1954, and was the only Billy Wilder film released by 20th Century-Fox. The characters of Elaine (Dolores Rosedale), Marie, and the inner voices of Sherman and The Girl were dropped from the play; the characters of the Plumber, Miss Finch (Carolyn Jones), the Waitress (Doro Merande), and Kruhulik the janitor (Robert Strauss) were added.
Many lines and scenes from the play were cut or re-written because they were deemed indecent by the Hays office. Axelrod and Wilder complained that the film was being made under straitjacketed conditions. This led to a major plot change: in the play, Sherman and The Girl had sex; in the movie, the romance is all in his head. (At least for the most part. Romance between the two is still suggested. Sherman and the Girl kiss twice, once outside the movie theater, the other time before Sherman goes to take Ricky’s paddle to Ricky.)
The footage of Monroe’s dress billowing over a subway grate was shot twice: the first take was shot on location outside the Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater, then located at 586 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, while the second take was on a sound stage. Both eventually made their way into the finished film,[citation needed] despite the often-held belief that the original on-location footage’s sound had been rendered useless by the overexcited crowd present during filming in New York. The exterior shooting location of Richard’s apartment was 164 East 61st Street in Manhattan.
The original 1955 review by Variety was largely positive. Though Hollywood production codes prohibited writer-director Billy Wilder from filming a comedy where adultery takes place, the review expressed disappointment that Sherman remains chaste. Some critics compared Richard Sherman to the fantasizing lead character in James Thurber’s short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Directed by: Billy Wilder
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes, Sonny Tufts, Robert Strauss, Oskar Homolka, Marguerite Chapman, Victor Moore, Dolores Rosedale, Carolyn Jones, Donald MacBride
Screenplay by: George Axelrod, Billy Wilder
Production Design by: A.F. Erickson, Saul Wurtzel
Cinematography by: Milton R. Krasner
Film Editing by: Hugh S. Fowler
Costume Design by: Travilla
Set Decoration by: Stuart A. Reiss, Walter M. Scott
Art Direction by: George W. Davis, Lyle R. Wheeler
Music by: Alfred Newman
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: 20th Century-Fox
Release Date: June 3, 1955 (United States)
Visits: 119